


there's no guidebook for this

by Cloud_Lightning



Category: Tomb Raider (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:40:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28238598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cloud_Lightning/pseuds/Cloud_Lightning
Summary: “In another life, maybe I could be Batman.”Sam nodded her head in agreement. “But you make a terrible Bruce Wayne though.”“Why’s that?”“You suck at flirting.”“Agree–Wait, what?”
Relationships: Lara Croft/Samantha Nishimura
Comments: 8
Kudos: 56





	there's no guidebook for this

**Author's Note:**

> Me, seven years late into the fandom, "Hi, is this seat taken?"

She ignored the vibration from her phone, probably it’s her father, again. He’s been asking her whether or not she’s coming home for Christmas, which she should answer but not really want to because she didn’t want to go home but at the same time she didn’t want to disappoint her father, yet the idea of him spending the holiday here with her was too much, she didn’t want to hear about what was her cousins or uncles or aunts were doing. Being the next heir of Croft Industry was too much to bear for her, and she didn’t have any energy to deal with yet another bullshit from her family about how she _picked the wrong field of study_.

First of all, nothing is wrong with archeology.

Second, those people can shove a rock up their ass.

Third, her father was an archeologist for fuck’s sake, why can’t she?

Lara groaned loudly when she realized she’s been staring at the page for almost five minutes now, maybe, who knows, time was just a fleeting thing after all. She hated Russian, only good enough to understand basic stuff, not enough to get recruited to the expedition team next year. And she hated herself for that. She should’ve been more serious in learning Russian, but it always reminds her of one of her old butlers from Russia, and he’s a weird one. Not good weird or bad weird, just plain weird.

She looked around the library, trying to forget the memory about that one time when Lara saw said butler smashed an apple with a hammer before eating it. The place was packed with students busy with their own little world. Lara watched over one student who literally cried and then his phone rang, he wiped his tears, took a deep breath a few times, and then went back on working. Yeah, Lara felt that one.

Her phone rang again, Lara still ignored it.

She stared at the book, god she hated Russian so much. Even when Jonah tried to help her with the subject by sending those Russian cat memes, Lara just couldn’t understand it. She lied to her father when he asked her about it, she feels like a failed Croft because she only got a B- on Russian.

Just when she was about to pack up and leave, someone took her phone away.

“Hey!”

“Why do you keep ignoring my call, Croft?”

Lara sighed deeply and rubbed her tired eyes when she heard that voice.

“Sofia.”

The woman in question just stood in front of Lara, holding her phone with two fingers as if it was something dangerous. “Care to explain?”

“I didn’t know that it was you, I thought it’s my father asking about my plan for the holiday, again.”

Sofia threw the phone away, which thankfully Lara managed to catch before it dropped to the floor. “Damn it Sofia! What do you want?”

The librarian shushed her for raising her voice, Lara smiled sheepishly and mumbled ‘ _Sorry’_.

“I just want to see what you are doing since you’re ignoring my call and your father.”

“Let me guess, my dad asked you to find me.”

Sofia hummed.

Lara just gestured to the books in front of her as an answer.

“Funny, I thought they already stopped the recruitment for the Russian expedition next year.”

“I know.”

“You do know the reason they reject you is not that you can’t speak Russian, right?”

“I _know_.” And she didn't want to talk about it.

Their fathers knew each other after Lara’s father led a team to restore one of the churches in Kitezh, Sofia’s hometown, their father once joked how they’ve bonded over being a single dad, and they’ve been friends since then. Lara and Sofia, on the other hand… Lara was pretty sure Sofia still hated her because Lara beat her at the Summer Festival archery the city of Kitezh held over a decade ago. Lara was in high school back then, and she visited her father during summer vacation.

She didn’t want to participate at first, because she’s an outsider and would probably just ruin the whole festival, but lots of people from other cities came to the festival and Lara suddenly didn’t feel like an outsider anymore, at least she’s not alone. When she saw Sofia and her friends entered the tournament as well, Lara knew that the best outcome for her was pretending to lose. She’d seen how Sofia sneered at her when they first met. Hell, the first time they met Sofia literally pointed her bow at Lara. But then they had the nerve to mock her father and their family’s name, and no more holding back. Still one of Lara’s proudest moments to this day, and that was saying something.

“Can I practice my Russian with you?”

“No.” Sofia sat in front of Lara. “You refused to help me with the winter festival back home.”

“Because your friends are freaking me out,” Lara said matter of fact.

Sofia tilted her head to the side, Lara followed her line of vision, she’s watching over some of the film club’s members handing out flyers, probably for their bi-weekly movie night. If Lara remembered correctly, they only screen non-English movies. They always had different themes for each month, chosen by one of the members randomly. She didn’t know what this month's theme was.

Lara blushed slightly when she saw one of the film club members, Sam Nishimura. Lara knew her when she’s making a movie about the college’s clubs, and since Lara was the best archer (Sofia was fuming in the background when the coach picked Lara) she’s the one that represents the team for the short movie. After that, they’ve talked, Sam always asking her what movie with a good representation of archeology (none, there’s none), or asking about a good documentary. Lara laughed because Sam didn’t really strike her as someone that likes that genre, well Sam said she wanted to broaden her horizon, she’s a filmmaker after all. They’ve watched movies together sometimes, especially when it comes to history. Sam said it was fun to hear Lara’s commentary about the inaccuracy of said movie.

Huh, speaking about movies.

Usually, Sam would always tell Lara about the upcoming theme for film club movie night, she even asked for Lara’s recommendation one time. But it’s been a long time since Sam texted her, probably a month or two. Well, it’s been pretty hectic, so understandable. But it didn’t stop Lara’s heart from breaking a little every time she caught a glimpse of Sam with someone else.

_Maybe she just didn’t like me that way._

The sound of Sofia’s laugh pulled Lara back into reality. She scowled when she saw Sofia was smirking, asshole. What kind of devious plan she had in store for Lara now?

“So is that THE Samantha Nishimura you told me before?”

Lara froze. “What? No. I never told you about Sam.”

“Really? Because I remember perfectly well that you told me about your new buddy from the film club named Sam.” Sofia’s smirk widened. “’ _I don’t believe that Sam actually like that documentary I picked._ ’” She said that while doing an impression of Lara.

“Fuck off,” Lara growled because yeah she remembered now.

But then Sofia being a little bitch just smiled, and then she waved her hand and it took Lara a second to realize what she’s about to do, but the time realization came for our young Croft, it was far too late.

“Sam!”

“Bloody hell, Sofia, what the fuck?!” Lara hissed.

Sam heard and saw them, she waved back and started walking toward their table.

“I will murder you in your sleep, Sofia.”

“Keep barking, Croft.”

“Hey, you two!” Sam smiled

Lara smiled back.

“So, Lara here just told me,” Lara kicked her under the table, but Sofia didn’t care, “that there’s going to be a movie night?”

“Yeah, six o’clock. This month’s theme is space, and tonight’s movie is Russian, Lara!”

Sam probably thinks that Lara liked Russian movies because she liked _Leviathan_.

“Oh, Russian movie huh? What a coincidence.”

Lara raised her eyebrow at that. She knew, Sofia already knew about the theme, that asshole.

“You guys should come if you’re free.”

“I’m–“

“I’m terribly busy, but I’m sure Lara is free.”

Lara girthed her teeth; she closed her eyes for a few seconds before looking at Sam. “Of course, Sam. I would love to come.”

“Great!” Sam smiled. “Six, okay?” She started to move away from the table. “Don’t be late!”

“I won’t,” Lara said as she waved goodbye to Sam.

After Sam was out of earshot, she glared at Sofia.

“What the fuck, Sofia?”

“You’re welcome.” She said instead, and then she left.

Fucker.

She was sure the reason why Sofia went to the same college was to torture her.

* * *

It’s been fifteen minutes since Sofia left her alone. Well, not really alone, per se, but now she’s waiting for the movie night. She kept her distance from Sam since Sam was pretty busy dealing with the preparation. Lara thought they’re just going to use the smaller screening room, but apparently they just installed a new projector at the main screening room and the dean wanted them to test it first. Well, the donation was from Sam’s parents after all.

Lara raised her eyebrow when she saw the room, which was, well, bare. Except for the new and shiny projector and screen.

“What the fuck, where’re the chairs?!” Sam yell boomed inside the room.

“They haven’t installed it, probably after Christmas.”

Sam rubbed her forehead. “Jesus, alright, fine, come on let’s take the chairs from our club.”

When Sam walked past her, Lara touched her wrist to stop her. “Do you need help with that?”

“What, no, it’s fine. I’ll just ask someone else to help, you’re the film participant, not the film club member, it’s okay.”

Slowly, some of the members came back, carrying a stack of chairs with them. Some of the film night’s participants also showed up, looking confused as ever when they saw all the commotion. One member explained what happened and asked the film night participants to not stand around near the door.

Lara wrapped her scarf tighter, it’s not snowing yet, but it’s already cold enough for her. Probably her body took a little longer to adapt back to America's cold environment after three months in Southeast Asia for an archeological dig. Lara tried to forget that horrible three months, she hated her teammates so much. How could they get chosen for the expedition was beyond her.

Some of the film club members came while carrying a bunch of pizza boxes, including Sam. Oh yeah, Sam did say there’s going to be pizza later. She chuckled when Sam punched one of her friends when he tried to take one box for himself. After she gave the last pizza box she carried, Sam was trying to carry four chairs stacked together, and of course, Lara couldn’t just sit by when she saw Sam was struggling.

“Sam, do you need help with that?” Lara took her bag and walked closer to Sam.

“Yes, please,” Sam groaned, she finally gave up. “Sorry, I know you’re not part of the team…”

Lara laughed and gave her bag to Sam. “It’s okay, don’t worry.”

It wasn't that heavy, Lara carried much heavier stuff while training with Sofia. “Where do you want me to carry this?”

“My place,” Sam said, a little breathless.

“Huh?”

“Shit, sorry, I mean there.” Sam shook her head and walked briskly.

Did her mind play tricks on her or did Sam was looking at her arm before?

* * *

Lara sat on the far back, near some of the film club members, while Sam sat next to her, they put one chair between them to put their pizza box and drinks. The screening room is already full, and the MC will probably start the movie soon. Lara thought Sam was the MC for the night, but Sam’s answer was to claim one box of pizza for them.

“So what movie are we watching?” Lara asked before she took a bit of her pizza. Huh, tuna, her favorite.

“I recommended _Aniara_ but everyone against it because it’s too depressing,” Sam sighed. “So we’re watching _Sputnik_.”

“ _Sputnik_ as in…”

“Yeah, but the spacecraft comes back with an alien inside it.”

“Oh.”

“Sam, why are you sitting behind there?” Alex, this month lucky member–Sam’s words, not Lara’s–that get to pick the theme for movie night. He picked space to honor the _Curiosity rover_ that was launched on 26th November.

“And what about it?”

Alex shook his head and began addressing everyone in the room. A speech or two about _Curiosity_ and the theme, he also talked about the club and thanking everyone for keep coming to this bi-weekly movie night, and of course, thanking Sam’s parents for their latest donation, Sam just rolled her eyes. Alex also reminded them that as usual, there’s going to be a discussion after the movie ends.

“So, are you going home for the holiday?”

Lara looked over to Sam, she’s sitting crossed leg with her chair facing Lara instead of the screen. “No, not sure. How about you?”

Sam shook her head. “Had a fight with my parents a few days ago, they probably won't care whether I’m going home or not.”

Lara almost blurted out _‘come home with me’_ because she was sure her father wouldn't mind if Sam came along with her. But thankfully, the movie already began and they turned off the light.

* * *

“You know, I think I’ve seen the actress before,” Lara said after swallowing her pizza.

“Really? What movie?”

“Not sure though, probably one of those movies that Sofia forced me to watch.” Well, technically Lara asked her to help with studying Russian.

Someone already took their empty pizza box and now Sam sat there because she couldn’t stand the cold and of course she forgot to bring a jacket and that’s why she’s wearing Lara’s now.

Sam took her phone, tapping the screen a few times. “Hmmm, almost all of her movies are Russian though.”

“Probably I mistook her for someone else.”

“Yeah, probably.”

The alien just ate someone and the main character could only watch in horror from the darkness.

* * *

“Wait, I thought you’re going to Russia next year!” Sam said, aghast with the idea that the expedition team rejected Lara.

“Shhh! Sam, come on!” One of the film club members in front of them yelled-whispered.

“Sorry.” Both of them said and Lara smiled sheepishly.

They waited until the person turned their attention back to the movie before resuming their talk.

“Well, apparently my Russian isn’t good enough for them.”

“You can read Dostoevsky in the original; I’d say your Russian is good enough.”

Lara chuckled lightly because she remembered when she asked Sam to hear her read some of Dostoevsky’s works while practicing her Russian. She didn’t actually remember how she could gather her courage and asked Sam to help her, because, again, Sofia refused to help her. Lara was nervous, but not because talking in another language in front of other people for the first time (which was funny because sometimes when she and her dad visited Kitezh, Jacob and some of Sofia’s friends would help her with her Russian, so technically she shouldn’t be nervous) but she was, and it was because of Sam.

Lara shrugged and drank her cola, ignoring the way her heart beat faster because Sam was holding her hand. It's…nice. Sam’s hand was warm despite her keep complaining about how the auditorium was too cold for her liking, and then she would snuggled up closer to Lara.

“Well, they’re an idiot for not taking you.”

“Thanks, Sam.”

Yeah, her jacket looks good on Sam. Really brings out her eyes.

Meanwhile, the main character was trying to escape with the alien from the government. Hah, classic.

* * *

Sam’s head was on her shoulder, they no longer watched the movie, already busy with their phone, well, mainly Sam was the one busy with her phone while Lara just read on her kindle, hoping and praying to every deity out there to help her out from this position. Lara could feel the warmth from Sam’s breath on her neck, sometimes she swore it feels like Sam kissed her neck, but probably that was just her imagination, right?

“You know, I miss hearing you reading me a story.”

“Really?”

Sam looked up to her, smiling softly. “Yeah, your voice is sexy, Lara. How many times must I tell you? I feel like I had my own audiobook.”

Lara laughed awkwardly, never knowing what to say every time someone complimented her. Lara heard someone say that the movie was almost over, they already killed the bad guy after all. Lara checked her watch, it’s almost nine.

“Oh, I haven’t made this month's music playlist challenge,” Sam said out loud.

“Hm?”

“Remember that group I told you about before? Where we share music playlist, sometimes randomly, sometimes there’s a theme for some sort of challenge.”

“Oh yeah, I remember. What’s this month's theme? Christmas song?”

Sam nodded. “Probably I’ll skip this one. It’s been a while since I added a new song to your playlist huh?”

“Oh, it’s okay. You know I’ll probably just listen to the same song over and over.” It’s not that Lara didn’t like hearing music (truly, don’t ever trust someone that never listens to music, ever) but Lara’s music taste was probably stuck in the early 2000s, she couldn’t really get into today's music. Sure sometimes there’s a good song or two, but for Lara, it was too much of a hassle to find it so she just sticks to the same song over and over again, or just listens to some classic.

But Sam saw this as a challenge.

At first, Lara hated to admit that she liked, no, loved, almost all of the songs that Sam put in the playlist. She would never know how in the world Sam could guess her music tasted like that, she even found a good song from some obscure bands or singers. Perhaps it was one of her many talents.

Speaking of said playlist, Lara remembered when she told Sofia and Jonah about the playlist (oh god, she’s been telling Sofia about Sam all this time, why the fuck she just noticed this?) and both of them just looking at each other and shook their head, clearly disappointed when Lara said she didn’t make Sam a playlist as well.

_“Lara, Sam made you a playlist!” Jonah said pointedly, as if Lara supposed to know what it meant._

_“Yes, and? Friends make each other a playlist, right?”_

_Jonah groaned and rubbed his tired face while Sofia scoffed._

_“This is what happens when you’re a rich kid with no friend.”_

_“Hey, you’re rich too.”_

_“Yes, but I have friends.”_

_“That’s….” True. Even though all of them knew how to kill a man with a screwdriver in ten different ways._

_“Look,” Jonah spoke again. “Why don’t you make a list of documentaries that Sam will probably like?”_

_“That could work.” At least she knew Sam wouldn’t mock her for her love for documentaries, especially documentaries about archeology. Lara cringed when she remembered how she recommended watching one during her first and last sleepover._

* * *

Lara blinked a few times when they turned the light back, she looked up to the screen, already showing the credit title, everyone applauded the movie, she and Sam followed suit. Well, that was fast. The movie was okay, Lara didn’t pay much attention, too busy trying to calm her heart down.

Alex, the MC for this month's movie night stood up after he stopped the projector. “Okay, as usual, it’s time to discuss the movie. Anyone want to comment first?”

A guy wearing a red beanie raised his hand.

Alex nodded his head. “Go ahead.”

“Well, I think it’s an okay movie. It feels like it’s missing something uniquely Russian…”

Lara glanced at Sam when she heard movement, and she saw Sam was already packing her stuff. Lara raised her eyebrow when their eyes met.

“The discussion probably won’t be too long. It’s an okay movie but a little draggy in the middle and Garret isn’t here, so no pretentious question.”

“I thought you film kids are all pretentious.”

“Har har, funny, Lara.”

Before Lara said anything, Alex raised his voice.

“So you’re saying, this is like the Russian version of _Venom_?”

Right at that moment, half of the film club members groaned collectively.

Lara looked to her right and Sam was pinching the bridge of her nose. “What’s wrong?”

“Alex is, well, he’s a die-hard fan of _Venom_ , you know the comic right?” Lara nodded. “Yeah, well, so it just, just don’t talk about _Venom_ when he’s around because it could end up with him talking about it for hours.”

“Great, we’re gonna be here all night.” Someone from the front sighed loudly.

Sam shook her head. “Nope, I’m out of here. I have better things to do than hearing him talk about _Venom,_ again.”

Lara tried to stop her when Sam stood up, Alex stopped talking in the middle of his rant _,_ looking at Sam with confusion all over his face.

“Sam, where are you going?”

“You guys just go on without me! Good movie, Alex!” Sam yelled without looking back.

“No, Sam, wait!”

Lara was torn between staying here or followed Sam outside, but when Alex looked at her, yeah, she better follows Sam outside. She took her bag and Sam’s and waved at Alex. “It’s a cool movie, Alex, great soundtrack too. Bye.” And then she hurriedly ran outside the screening room.

* * *

“Sam, your bag!”

Shit, Lara, can you say something romantic? You’re chasing her down like in those romance movies you secretly loved and all you can say is, _Sam, your bag!_ Jesus Christ.

Sam stopped walking. “Oh, crap, thanks Lara, you’re a lifesaver,” she went back to get her bag.

Lara smiled. “Walk you to the parking lot?”

“Uh, yeah, about that…” Sam sighed deeply and rubbed the back of her neck.

“What’s wrong?”

“My parents took my car after our fight?” Sam flinched.

“Wait, then how do you get here? Uber?”

“No, I’m with Alex. Don’t worry, I already text him that I’ll take Uber.”

Lara shook her head. “Come on, I’ll drive you back.”

“What, no, Lara, you don’t need to.”

“Yes, but I want to.” Lara smiled and took Sam’s hand, still warm. “Come on.”

Sam took Lara’s hand, smiling softly. “Thanks, Lara.” Maybe she should’ve worn a glove, Lara could feel her hands sweating, she hoped Sam didn’t notice this.

They walked mostly in silence, while sometimes some students would greet Sam and look at Lara with curiosity, Lara pretended she didn’t notice those glances thrown at her and just let Sam pull her to the parking lot. According to the weather forecast today it is going to be snowing, but there’s no sight of it, probably not today. Sam was humming something, Lara never heard the tune before.

“Is Alex still talking about _Venom_?”

“Uh, I think? Sorry, I didn’t really hear him when I left.”

Sam chuckled. “Sorry for running away like that, I really don’t have the energy to listen to Alex.”

“No, it’s okay. I know how you feel about superheroes in general.”

“If it weren’t for Katie Holmes I would probably never watch _Batman_.”

Lara chuckled, she remembered when Sam dragged her to that movie night, they watched _Batman_ and the Tobey Maguire’s _Spiderman_ , since you can’t vote for the next movie theme if you didn’t show up, so Sam had to swallow her pride and watched superhero movies, at least _Spiderman_ was bearable. “But didn’t you tell me that I would make a good _Batman_?”

“Hm? Oh yeah, I mean you can fight,” Sam nodded. Probably she remembered about that time when the two of them got caught in a bar fight after someone kept harassing them. “Plus, you’ll look hot wearing leather skin.”

Lara laughed awkwardly. “I’m glad you think so. Well, maybe, in another life, I could be Batman.”

Sam nodded her head in agreement. “But you make a terrible Bruce Wayne though.”

“Why’s that?”

“You suck at flirting.”

Lara laughed at that. “Agree–Wait, what?” She stopped walking and she noticed that Sam was a few paces behind her. “Sam?”

Sam was covering her face with her hands. “God, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to say it out loud.”

“Huh, what?”

Sam took a deep breath and marched to Lara, standing up tall despite being the shorter one. “You sucks at flirting, Lara Croft!”

“Hey! I’m not!”

“Okay, then flirt with me.”

“What? Why?”

“You said you can flirt, so do it.”

“What, right now?”

“No, next year. Come on, Lara. Show me what you got.”

“I don’t understand, we were talking about _Venom,_ why suddenly…” Lara gasped when Sam suddenly held her hands. “What–“

“Your eyes are so beautiful,” Sam said softly.

Lara could only stare at this sudden change of topic.

“What?”

“Let me finish.” Sam shushed her. “You’re brave, smart, you’re not afraid to stand up for yourself, and yes you’re insanely hot, sexy, and strong, your back muscle alone is so amazing, not to mention your voice. You’re not afraid to show it to the world that you’re such a nerd, and you’re so kind, Lara, you always help your friends, you’re amazing.” Sam’s smile was brighter than the sun. “Even though you always wake up before the sun rises, hey not everyone is perfect, right?”

“What?” Lara said again, a little breathlessly this time. True, it wasn’t the first time Sam ever complimented her, but that was something else.

“And you are, really, _really,_ really dense when it comes to flirting. But it’s okay,” Sam kissed Lara’s knuckles. “That’s why I like you.”

“You like me?” That’s not possible, right?

“Of course! Lara, I’ve been flirting with you for the last two years. Wow, thanks for noticing.”

“Wait, really?”

“Lara, I gave you a playlist.”

“I thought it’s a normal thing for friends to give each other a playlist!”

Sam shook her head. “Do you even remember what happened that last summer vacation?”

Yeah, Lara remembered that one. Sam drunkenly confessed her feelings, but the next morning when Lara asked her, Sam said she didn’t remember anything from last night. So Lara tried to forget about the confession, but the way her heart ached every time she saw Sam’s name on her phone told her that she failed miserably. “You said you didn’t remember,” Lara took a step back.

Lara ignored the small gasp from Sam when she dropped their hands.

“I lied.”

“Why?”

“Because…” Sam sighed. “I thought you didn’t like me that way.”

“Sam…”

“I keep flirting at you, and yet, you didn’t do anything. After I confessed my feeling for you, you just, you looked so scared.” Sam averted her eyes. “I’m sorry if I ever made you uncomfortable with my advances like that. I just, I really miss my best friend. I’m so sorry, Lara.”

Lara’s heart clenched when she saw how brokenhearted Sam was. “Sam…”

“Sorry, I’ll just… I’ll just get an Uber or go back inside and wait for Alex…”

“Sam, wait!” Lara caught her wrist. “Please, stay.”

“Lara, it’s okay, I…”

“I was scared because I didn’t know what to do.”

“What?”

“I never had any relationship before, Sam. I didn’t know what to do next after someone confessed their feelings for me. What to do when your crush _actually_ likes you back.” Now it was Lara’s turn to avert her eyes. “All this time, I thought you were just being friendly with me. You are friendly with everyone, Sam. And then the next morning you told me that you didn’t remember! How am I supposed to know that you like me! I honestly thought you’re just joking.”

“I would never, ever, joke about my feeling for you, Lara.”

Lara sighed deeply, her fingers still wrapped possessively around Sam’s wrist. “I know that now. Is that why you’ve been avoiding me?”

“Yes,” Sam answered with a small voice.

Lara laughed out loud, making Sam jump.

“What’s so funny?”

“Sorry, it just,” Lara laughed again. “Sofia was right. If only I just talk to you about what happened back there, this whole mess won’t probably happen.”

“Honestly at first, I thought Sofia was your ex.”

“Ew, no.” Lara wrinkled her nose. Sure, Sofia was pretty, but they would clash too often because they’re both hotheaded.

“So, you like me?” Sam asked sweetly, there’s that glint in her eyes, the one that Lara knew so well.

“I am, very much so.”

“So kiss me.”

Lara’s heart skipped a beat. “Really?”

“Yes, kiss me on the lips, Lara.”

She felt like her heart was trying to get out of her chest, beating so wildly and faster, Lara wrapped her hands around Sam’s neck, hoping this touch would ground her, but instead it only made Lara scared that her heart would jump out. But then Sam caressed her face tenderly and whispered.

“Kiss me.”

And so Lara did.

They didn’t notice when the first fall of snow graced the earth with its presence.

* * *

“ _Pumpkin, I’m glad you call!”_

Lara smiled as she heard her father’s voice. “Hey, dad. Yeah, sorry for not picking up your call earlier.”

 _“And I’m sorry for asking Sofia to find you.”_ He chuckled.

Lara rolled her eyes. “Well, I’ll be coming home this weekend.”

“ _Really? Oh, I’m glad…”_

“But I’m not alone.” She touched her necklace, the one her mother gave it to her before she passed away.

“ _Oh?”_

“Yeah,” Lara glanced to her left, where Sam was sleeping peacefully, her bare back peeking out from Lara’s blanket. “Sam’s going with me. Is that okay?”

_“Sam, as in that Sam from the film club?”_

“Wait, how do you know about her?” Shit, damn it, Sofia!

_“Lara, you told me about her when you’re asking me about a good documentary about the Aztecs. You told me about this beautiful girl that didn’t mock you because you like documentaries.”_

Lara groaned and facepalmed herself, but that only made her dad laugh louder. “Dad!”

_“Of course it’s fine, Lara. Sam is more than welcome to come here.”_

Lara smiled. “Thanks, dad. I love you.”

“ _I love you too, Pumpkin. Call me if you need the money for the ticket, or I’ll just tell Sebastian to pick you up on our plane. I bet Sam would love that, she didn’t know you could fly a plane, didn’t she?”_

“No, she’s not.”

_“Great! I’ll tell Sebastian to prepare the plane. Love you Pumpkin, say hi for Sam.”_

“Bye, dad.”

Lara put her phone back on the nightstand, and at the same time Sam stirred up from her slumber.

“Who?”

“My dad. Sorry, did I wake you up?”

Sam grumbled, her only answer was to pull half naked Lara down and hugged her tightly. “Sleep.”

Lara laughed and kissed the top of Sam’s head. Sleep never came this easy for her before, but with Sam in her arms, safe and sound, sleep was like her second nature.

**Author's Note:**

> Just finished Rise of Tomb Raider a few days ago, and unfortunately I can't play the last one since my laptop couldn't handle it :(, but damn, they really didn't talk about the first game at all huh, jesus SE. This idea came when I notice that Lara's Russian level was low compare to her greek, so I was like, well maybe I could use it for a fic idea. Look, when it comes to archeology movie/video game, I will always have a love-hate relationship with it, so yeah
> 
> Anyway, if you read the comic, please tell me the spoiler of what happened, saw someone said something about the comic on tumblr, and yes, im still on tumblr, come and say hi @nightwhite13


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